Android Things is Google’s OS for smart devices

Google is an intrinsic part of our daily lives. As technology around us evolves and branches out, Google tries to make sure it doesn’t miss out on any branch. Google is making a big push for your home. With Google Home and WiFi, Google wants to put Android in the next wave of smart devices with Android Things. It’s a version of Android created to run on products like connected speakers, security cameras, routers, printers and more.

It’s about time Google came to the rescue of disparate smart devices to loop them all under one umbrella. It makes it an easier and familiar ecosystem for developers to work on. Android Things is a rebrand of Brillo, an Android-based OS created by Google for Internet of Things devices in 2015. There’s been little mention of it since and now Google has launched it under Android Things with a nice little rebrand.

The rebrand brings more than a new name to Brillo. It will now be much easier to develop for Android Things than it was with Brillo. Developers will be able to use the same tools as standard Android development. This opens up the door for a new wave of IoT development. Unlike Android on your phone and Android Wear on your wrist, Android Things is a tool strictly meant to function in the background. It will allow smart devices to handle complex tasks on their own instead of offloading them to some server for processing. This makes Android Things a great fit for smart devices of all shapes and sizes.

Don’t think of Android Things as a method for connecting smart products to Android phones either. Android Things devices can integrate with Android (and iOS) devices, it would happen through Weave, a related but distinct communications system that Google launched alongside Brillo back in 2015.

Android Things comes a renewed push into smart devices by Google, though it still seems to be on the lower end of Google priority spectrum. There’s not much talk of who Google’s new partners would be to develop on Android Things. Nor do we know exactly what will come out of it.